In Frederick Douglas's autobiography, My Bondage and My Freedom the shocking and harsh reality of slavery in Douglas's time is effectively described to the reader. In many of the chapters, particularly chapters V-X, Douglas describes his life on Col. Lloyd's plantation and the gruesome and horrific experiences he witnessed while there.

Douglas describes many different aspects of the slave system particularly the roles of the master and the slaveholder versus the slave. In Chapter V, Douglas writes about an account he witnessed between a young woman slave and "Old Master":"Esther's wrists were firmly tied, and the twisted rope was fastened to a strong staple in a heavy wooden joist above, near the fireplace. Here she stood, on a bench, her arms tightly drawn over her breast. Her back and shoulders were bare to the waist. Behind her stood old master, with cowskin in hand, preparing his barbarous work with all manner of harsh, coarse, and tantalizing epithets.

Scars of a whipped slave (April 2, 1863, Baton Rou...

Frederick Douglass portrait

English: Portrait of Frederick Douglass as a young...

The screams of his victim were most piercing. Each blow, vigorously laid on, brought screams as well as blood" (Douglas 87-88).

This accounts for only one of the numerous beatings Douglas describes of the slaves on his plantation and it gives the reader a frightening realization of what life was really like during that time. Douglass describes the dehumanizing character of slavery and he claims that "one of the most damning characteristics of the slave system, is that it robs its victims of every earthly incentive to a holy life" (86). The horses and dogs were treated better than the slaves (Douglas 112) and the manner in which they lived made all feelings of hope disappear. Slaves weren't even considered as human beings let alone given the opportunity to live pleasantly.

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